Mr. Simple

This article is about Super Junior's album. For the song, see Mr. Simple (song).

Mr. Simple (reissue name A-Cha) is the fifth studio album by the South Korean boy band Super Junior. It was released on 3 August 2011, by SM Entertainment, distributed by KMP Holdings and digitally release on 2 August.^[1] On 19 September 2011, a repackaged edition was released, re-titled A-Cha. It features four new tracks including title track "A-Cha" and "Superman" which was previously released in version B only. This is the group's second album that features ten of the original 13 members and the first being their previous album, Bonamana (2010).

Mr. Simple
Digital and A version cover.
Studio album by Super Junior
Released	3 August 2011 (2011-08-03)
Recorded	June–July 2011
Studio	Doobdoob (Seoul) HUB (Seoul) SM Blue Cup (Seoul) SM Blue Ocean (Seoul) SM Booming System (Seoul) SM Concert Hall (Seoul) SM Yellow Tail (Seoul) T (Seoul)
Genre	K-pop synth-pop R&B pop-rock
Length	47:44 (version A) 47:41 (version B) 61:12 (repackaged)
Language	Korean
Label	SM KMP
Producer	Lee Soo-man
Super Junior chronology
Bonamana (2010) Mr. Simple (2011) Sexy, Free & Single (2012)
Singles from Mr. Simple
"Mr. Simple" Released: 2 August 2011 "Superman" Released: 22 August 2011
Repackaged edition cover
Digital cover
Singles from A-Cha
"A-Cha" Released: 19 September 2011

At the year end award shows of 2011, the album won the Disk Daesang Award at the 26th Golden Disk Awards and 21st Seoul Music Awards, as well as the Album of the Year at the 13th Mnet Asian Music Awards. The album, including the repackaged version, is listed as the 2nd best-selling album of the year for 2011. According to Gaon Chart, as of the end of December 2012, the album has sold a cumulative total of 543,623 copies domestically.

Background and development

On 31 March 2011, leader Leeteuk announced during the interview, "At the earliest, we'll be coming out with our fifth album this summer."^[2] Leeteuk and Eunhyuk confirmed on their radio show "Super Junior Kiss the Radio" on 1 June 2011, that they had begun recording their upcoming album that day. Heechul tweeted on 2 June 2011, saying that the group "may be going crazy with preparations for our fifth album, but when it's finally released, you're all going to go mad."^[3] American dancer Kenny Wormald posted on his official Twitter on 11 July 2011, that he had started the choreography rehearsal for the group's upcoming new single.^[4] On the same day, Leeteuk and Eunhyuk stated on their radio show "Super Junior Kiss the Radio" that songwriter Jinu (hitchhiker) had contributed something for the new album. Shim Jae Won, current choreographer and former member of the disbanded SM group Black Beat tweeted two pictures of the choreography practice of the group showing the lower half of their bodies.^[5]

The first of the teaser photos was released on 20 July 2011, featuring Eunhyuk. Other photos followed, in order of: Donghae, Leeteuk, Shindong, Kyuhyun, Sungmin, Ryeowook, Yesung, Siwon and Heechul.^[6] On the same day, it was announced that the album is set for an 3 August release.^[6]

Music and video

The album is mostly synthpop, with the title track, "Mr. Simple", being the last installation of the "SJ Funky" genre in which the group has been consistently pursuing since "Sorry, Sorry" (2009) and "Bonamana" (2010). Songs encompassed with synthpop elements include "Opera", "Be My Girl", "Walkin'" and "My Love My Kiss My Heart". Other tracks included in the album are the country-flavored tracks "Good Friends" and "Sunflower", an electropop number "Feels Good", a cover of a 1996 song by Jinu (hitchhiker) entitled "White Christmas", ballads "Storm" and "Memories", a Donghae-Chance-written track "Y", as well as the inclusion of subgroup Super Junior-M's Korean version of their 2011 title track "Perfection", in which it serves a purpose "to give a chance to Korean fans to enjoy the music of Super Junior-M which is appearing in various stages in Asia." Meanwhile, for the B-version of the album, a further-included track "Superman" is described to be "a minimalist hip-hop track which feature the members singing in a low vocal range."^[7]

On 22 to 24 July 2011, the group filmed the music video for their new lead single.^[8] Two video teasers were released on 1 August 2011, in which the first teaser gained a million views on YouTube a day after its release and 2,500,000 views by the second day. Meanwhile, the second teaser passing a million views by the second day. The music video reached more than half a million views within the first few hours of release. It passed 1.5 million views by the end of the first day, and 3 million by the end of the second, views. On 26 August 2011, a music video for the album's supporting single, "Superman", was released on their YouTube channel, featuring clips from their Super Show 3 Tour as well as the photoshoots and music video making for "Mr. Simple".^[9]

On 1 November 2015, the music video officially reached 100 million views on YouTube.^[10] On 30 July 2021, the music video officially reached 200 million views on YouTube.^[11]

Promotion and release

The group held a press conference at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Seoul on 4 August, which attracted over 200 reporters, including 70 foreign journalists from Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore^[12] The group expressed that they will promote the album for as long as possible till Heechul's enlistment date and also to continue with Super Show 4 World Tour.^[13][14] Super Junior had their debut performance of "Mr. Simple" and a non-album track "Superman" at Music Bank on 5 August 2011,^[15] followed by Music Core the following day,^[16] Inkigayo after that^[17] and on 11 August on M! Countdown.^[18] However, promotions for the song ended on 28 August due to the enlistment of member Heechul to the army on 1 September 2011.^[19][20]

The album was released in 11 countries across Asia.,^[21] including Taiwan on 6 September 2011, by Avex Taiwan. The album was supposed to be pre-released in the Philippines by Universal Records on 1 October 2011, but was moved to 8 October, citing manufacturing problems caused by typhoon Nesat.^[22] The Type A album was officially released in the country on 24 November. After the released of "Mr Simple" in Japanese, the group followed-up with the release of "Opera" in Japanese. The single album also include the travel-themed mid-tempo ballad "Way", Japanese original music video and making-of DVD. It has been available for pre-order from 11 March 2012.^[23]

Reception

Critical reception

Music critic Han Dong-yoon from webzine IZM expressed boredom with the song "Mr. Simple" due to repetition of the same lyrics and "techno-type electronic sounds"; he additionally criticized the "distorted vocals" which made identifying the members difficult, "except for a few people". Han also found similar patterns in the tracks "Opera" and "Be My Girl", but was more favorable towards the ballad tracks such as "Memories", "Sunflower" and "Y", referring to them as "clean[ing] up the place they left".^[24]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 3 on Billboard World Albums Chart for the week of 20 August 2011.^[25] It peaked at number one on the Gaon Album Chart for the month of August, with 287,427 copies sold.^[26] Meanwhile, the repackaged album, A-Cha, which was released on 19 September, debuted at number three with 97,210 copies sold.^[27] At the year-end list of album sales for 2011, compiled by Gaon Chart, the album is listed as the second best-selling album of the year with 343,348 copies sold and the repackaged version at number seven with 129,894 copies sold. Thus making a cumulative total sale of 473,242 copies in South Korea.^[28]

On 12 April 2012, Gaon Chart reported that up till the end of March 2012, the album has sold a cumulative total of 502,830 copies, making it the first album in four years to exceed half a million in sales since Kim Gun Mo's eighth album He-story in 2003 and TVXQ's fourth album, Mirotic in 2008.^[29] The released in the Philippines on 8 October, peaked at number one in Odyssey Weekly Album Chart.^[30] After a week of selling the album reached gold status with standout sales of 7,500. This was the group's 5th number one album and 4th album to certify gold status in the country making them the only Korean act to do so.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

Mr. Simple Version A track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Mr. Simple"	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	3:59
2.	"Opera" (오페라; Opera)	Kenzie	Thomas Troelsen Engelina Larsen	Kenzie	3:01
3.	"Be My Girl" (라라라라; Lalalala)	Kim Boo-min [ko]	GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	Hitchhiker GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	3:09
4.	"Walkin'"	Misfit	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	C2 Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	3:46
5.	"Storm" (폭풍; Pokpung)	Kim Jeong-bae [ko]	Kenzie	Kenzie Nile Lee	4:16
6.	"Good Friends" (어느새 우린; Eoneusae Urin; lit. Suddenly we)	Yoon Jong-shin	Yoon Jong-shin	Kim Dong-ha Shinchi	3:57
7.	"Feels Good" (결투; Gyeoltu; lit. Duel)	Hong Ji-yoo	Denniz Jamm Qwan	Hwang Seong-je (ButterFly) [ko] Q (ButterFly)	3:19
8.	"Memories" (기억을 따라; Gieogeul Ttara; lit. Follow the memory)	Park Joon-soo Lee Yoon-jong	Park Joon-soo	Park Joon-soo Nile Lee	4:11
9.	"Sunflower" (해바라기; Haebaragi)	Hong Ji-yoo	Brandon Fraley	Hwang Seong-je (BJJ Music) Kim Yong-hyun (BJJ Music)	3:52
10.	"White Christmas" (엉뚱한 상상; Eongttunghan Sangsang; lit. Crazy imagination)	Hitchhiker Eunhyuk	Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker	3:36
11.	"Y"	Super Junior-D&E Chance	Lee Donghae Chance Super D	Chance Super D Park Cham	3:27
12.	"My Love, My Kiss, My Heart"	Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	Kim Yong-sin (Iconic Sounds) Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	3:40
13.	"Perfection" (태완미; Taewanmi) (Korean version) (performed by Super Junior-M) (bonus track)	Lee Won-geun	Mikkel Remee Sigvardt Thomas Troelsen	Hitchhiker	3:24
Total length:					47:37

Mr. Simple Version B track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Superman"	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	3:21
2.	"Mr. Simple"	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	3:59
3.	"Opera" (오페라; Opera)	Kenzie	Thomas Troelsen Engelina Larsen	Kenzie	3:01
4.	"Be My Girl" (라라라라; Lalalala)	Kim Boo-min [ko]	GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	Hitchhiker GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	3:09
5.	"Walkin'"	Misfit	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	C2 Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	3:46
6.	"Storm" (폭풍; Pokpung)	Kim Jeong-bae [ko]	Kenzie	Kenzie Nile Lee	4:16
7.	"Good Friends" (어느새 우린; Eoneusae Urin; lit. Suddenly we)	Yoon Jong-shin	Yoon Jong-shin	Kim Dong-ha Shinchi	3:57
8.	"Feels Good" (결투; Gyeoltu; lit. Duel)	Hong Ji-yoo	Denniz Jamm Qwan	Hwang Seong-je (ButterFly) [ko] Q (ButterFly)	3:19
9.	"Memories" (기억을 따라; Gieogeul Ttara; lit. Follow the memory)	Park Joon-soo Lee Yoon-jong	Park Joon-soo	Park Joon-soo Nile Lee	4:11
10.	"Sunflower" (해바라기; Haebaragi)	Hong Ji-yoo	Brandon Fraley	Hwang Seong-je (BJJ Music) Kim Yong-hyun (BJJ Music)	3:52
11.	"White Christmas" (엉뚱한 상상; Eongttunghan Sangsang; lit. Crazy imagination)	Hitchhiker Eunhyuk	Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker	3:36
12.	"Y"	Super Junior-D&E Chance	Lee Donghae Chance Super D	Chance Super D Park Cham	3:27
13.	"My Love, My Kiss, My Heart"	Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	Kim Yong-sin (Iconic Sounds) Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	3:40
Total length:					47:34

A-Cha Repackage track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Superman"	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	3:21
2.	"A-Cha"	Kim Boo-min [ko]	Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker	3:18
3.	"Mr. Simple"	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	Yoo Young-jin	3:59
4.	"Oops!" (featuring f(x))	Leeteuk Heechul Shindong Eunhyuk Donghae Misfit	Kalle Engström William J. Fuller	Kalle Engström William J. Fuller Hitchhiker	3:44
5.	"A Day" (하루에; Harue)	Kim Jeong-bae [ko]	Kenzie	Kenzie Nile Lee	3:27
6.	"Andante" (안단테; Andante)	Misfit	Leeteuk Henry Lau Q (ButterFly)	Q (ButterFly)	3:06
7.	"Opera" (오페라; Opera)	Kenzie	Thomas Troelsen Engelina Larsen	Kenzie	3:01
8.	"Be My Girl" (라라라라; Lalalala)	Kim Boo-min	GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	Hitchhiker GoodWill & MGI Aku Rannila J-Son	3:09
9.	"Walkin'"	Misfit	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	C2 Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	3:46
10.	"Storm" (폭풍; Pokpung)	Kim Jeong-bae	Kenzie	Kenzie Nile Lee	4:16
11.	"Good Friends" (어느새 우린; Eoneusae Urin; lit. Suddenly we)	Yoon Jong-shin	Yoon Jong-shin	Kim Dong-ha Shinchi	3:57
12.	"Feels Good" (결투; Gyeoltu; lit. Duel)	Hong Ji-yoo	Denniz Jamm Qwan	Hwang Seong-je (ButterFly) [ko] Q (ButterFly)	3:19
13.	"Memories" (기억을 따라; Gieogeul Ttara; lit. Follow the memory)	Park Joon-soo Lee Yoon-jong	Park Joon-soo	Park Joon-soo Nile Lee	4:11
14.	"Sunflower" (해바라기; Haebaragi)	Hong Ji-yoo	Brandon Fraley	Hwang Seong-je (BJJ Music) Kim Yong-hyun (BJJ Music)	3:52
15.	"White Christmas" (엉뚱한 상상; Eongttunghan Sangsang; lit. Crazy imagination)	Hitchhiker Eunhyuk	Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker	3:36
16.	"Y"	Super Junior-D&E Chance	Lee Donghae Chance Super D	Chance Super D Park Cham	3:27
17.	"My Love, My Kiss, My Heart"	Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	iDR (C2) 12Keyz (C2) Sharif Slater Ryan S. Jhun	Kim Yong-sin (Iconic Sounds) Tesung Kim (Iconic Sounds)	3:40
Total length:					61:12

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2011) Peak position Japanese Albums (Oricon)[31] 17 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[32] 1 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[33] 41 US World Albums (Billboard)[25] 3 Monthly charts Chart (August 2011) Peak position South Korean Albums (Gaon) 1

Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position South Korean Albums (Gaon)[34] 2

Personnel

Credits are for the Type A of the album, unless where indicated.^[35]

Super Junior – vocals, background vocals Leeteuk – vocals, Heechul– vocals, rap Yesung – lead vocals, background vocals Shindong – vocals, rap Sungmin – lead vocals, background vocals Eunhyuk – vocals, rap Siwon – vocals Donghae – vocals, rap Ryeowook – lead vocals, background vocals Kyuhyun – lead vocals, background vocals Super Junior-M – vocals, background vocals (Perfection) Zhoumi – vocals Henry – vocals, rap Yoo Young-jin – background vocals Kang Sung-ho – background vocals Park Il – background vocals Chance (One Way) – background vocals Hitchhiker – background vocals, guitar, keyboard, synth and beat arrangements, bass, sound processing

Thomas Troelsen – background vocals TST – brass section Choi Won-hyuk – bass Kim Jung-bae – guitar Lee Hwa – piano Yoong – string section Shin Seok-chul – drums Choi Hoon – bass Cho Jeong-chi – guitar Go Gyeong-chun – keyboard Lee Sung-ryeol – guitar Park Cham – guitar Super D – keyboard Kim Kyu-won – pro-tools editing Goo Jongpil – mixing Nam Koong-jin – mixing Lee Seung-ho – mixing Jeon Hoon – mastering (mastering done at Sonic Korea)

Awards

Year	Organization	Category	Result	Ref.
2011	Hanteo Awards	Album Award	Won	[36]
		Singer Award (album-based)	Won	[37]
	Hong Kong Top Sales Music Awards	Best Japanese & Korean Releases	Won	[38]
	Mnet Asian Music Awards	Album of the Year	Won	[39]
	Tower Records K-pop Lovers Awards	Album of the Year	Third place	[40]
2012	Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards	Album of the Year – 3rd Quarter	Won	[41]
	Golden Disc Awards	Album Daesang	Won	[42]
		Album Bonsang	Won
2014	Red Dot Design Awards	Communication Design Award	Won	[43]

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Distributing label
South Korea	2 August 2011 3 August 2011 (version A) 22 August 2011 (version B) 19 September 2011 (repackaged)	Digital download CD CD CD, digital download	KMP Holdings
Japan	6 August 2011	CD (import)	Avex Trax
Taiwan	6 September 2011 (version A)[44] 23 September 2011 (version B)[45] 30 September 2011 (Repackaged)[46]	CD	Avex Taiwan
Singapore	29 September 2011 (version C)	CD	Universal Music
Philippines	24 November 2011 (version A) 17 December 2011 (version B & C)	CD	Universal Records
Malaysia	12 September 2011 (version B) 10 October 2011 (version C)	CD	Universal Music

See also

• Mr. Simple
  • Mr. Simple (Music Video) on YouTube
  • Mr. Simple (Teaser Movie 1) on YouTube
  • Mr. Simple (Teaser Movie 2) on YouTube
  • Mr. Simple (Making Film) on YouTube
• A-Cha
  • A-Cha (Music Video) on YouTube
  • A-Cha (Music Video – Dance Ver.1) on YouTube
  • A-Cha (Music Video – Dance Ver.2) on YouTube
  • A-Cha (Music Video Teaser) on YouTube
• Superman
  • Superman (Music Video) on YouTube